This file photo shows Assyrian Christians in Syrias northeastern city of Hasakah.[/caption]The ISIL Takfiri group has kidnapped at least 220 Assyrian civilians in the northeast of Syria overthe past three days, a reportsays.
According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Thursday, the Assyrian civilians wereabducted from 11 villages in Tel Tamer countryside in Hasakah Province in northeastern Syria.
The hostages have been taken to Abd al-Aziz mount southwest of Tel Tamer, a town located about 20 kilometers (12 miles) to the northwest of Hasakah, the Britain-based group added.
Reports say that negotiations are underway to prepare the ground for the release of the hostages.
According to a Syrian Christian group that represents a number of nongovernmental organizations inside and outside the country, ISIL abducted at least 150 people from Assyrian Christian villages during Mondaydawn raids on villages that are home to the ancient Christian minority west of the provincial capital, Hasakah. It said the Assyrian Christians were taken from villages near Tel Tamer.
Over the past months, Assyrians, who come from one of the worlds oldest Christian communities, have been under increasing threat by the ISIL terrorists.
The ISIL militants, with members from several Western countries, control some parts of Syria and Iraq, and have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities.
By Press TV
